Swan Song
by stfuSPARKS
Summary: In a world where the dead vastly outnumber the living and rules no longer exist, a small group of people find themselves desperately fighting for survival against the darkness that threatens to overtake them all. AU/SasuSaku


The walls were suffocating.

It wasn't only the walls either; it was the look in their eyes too, those cold, accusing glares that sank under her pale skin, attacking her weakest points and making her unconsciously shiver under the unfamiliar, malevolent tension. Their leering gazes were unlike anything else she had ever been subjected to, heavily contrasting with the warm eyes and pleasant smiles she was used to in her normal, everyday life.

The one she could no longer return to, not anymore.

"I didn't do it," she suddenly blurted out, almost immediately wincing as her desperation filtered through her cracked, dry voice, as clear as day. She loathed herself more and more with every single word that managed to escape her mouth, but in the end it was nothing but the truth, and she could only hope that they would realize it. "I'm not guilty," she pleaded again with a quiet whisper, swallowing the large lump in her throat as she forced her tears back.

The man who clearly held the highest authority in the entire facility sneered at her from behind his lavish, antique wooden desk. He hid behind an obnoxiously big brass nameplate that pompously declared him the director of the prison, followed by a name that she didn't even bother to read, knowing that she was most likely to forget it right away in the first place.

"Your trial ended yesterday, sweetheart. You're clearly guilty if you're standing here right now, aren't you? Save your pretty excuses for the judge - if you're ever granted a retrial, that is." His words were cold and almost mocking, but as much as she hated to admit it, the man was right. She was standing in this very office, in this very building because they had declared her guilty by the law. Resisting when she was already trapped within these walls was literally useless. Still, it didn't hurt any less - and it didn't do anything to placate the spark of fury that had momentarily risen within the dark depths of her.

"You've got the wrong person," she forced out again, trying to suppress the tremor in her voice. She knew her words were useless, but she couldn't stop them from tumbling out anymore. "I'm... I'm just a normal university student. I don't belong in a place like prison."

"That's what they all say in the beginning," the man said with an exasperated sigh, and her words were then abruptly ignored as he shifted through several stray papers that were littered across his messy desk. "Prison is a dangerous place for a pretty little thing like you, girlie. I'm sure you're aware that our institute holds very... particular inmates." His eyes curved upwards, filled with cold amusement. "Some might even say that they're not all quite right in the head." A horrifying grin was slowly beginning to spread across his greasy face, as his tongue darted out across his yellowing teeth. "It would be a real shame if... ah, let's say, you were put into a cell with the other men here, don't you think? They've been lonely for so long, and I can't quite vouch for what they would be capable of doing when put into a single, _locked _cell with a pretty flower like you."

He was threatening her. The poorly concealed implications behind his words were far too obvious, and she had to fight the sudden urge to violently throw up as his words finished processing in her head. The sole thought of what he was implying was absolutely sickening - and she finally realized that the man in front of her was sick in the head as well, just like everyone else locked up in here.

He was dangerous.

Suppressing another urge to scream and run away, she reminded herself that she was smarter than this - she was aware of her current situation and she definitely did not want to risk spending the rest of her days in here sharing a cell with all kinds of men who were desperate for the warm touch of a woman. No matter what happened, she had to calm her nerves and act accordingly in order to protect herself. She could trust no one but herself in here.

"I... I understand," she whispered, honestly not understanding at all. Her eyes were cast towards the floor as a mixture of emotions overwhelmed her - she wanted to cry but resisted it, knowing that even though at this very moment she wanted to prove her innocence and leave this infernal place as soon as possible, the chances of her leaving any time soon were fairly poor. All she could do right now was keep her chin high and stop her situation from getting any worse.

"You know," the man's disgustingly thick voice suddenly shook her out of her own thoughts. She slightly jumped when she realized that he was suddenly standing right next to her, pressing his body uncomfortably close to hers. She could feel the rough texture of his cheap suit rub against her bare arms as she suppressed another shiver. "If you were willing to... do me a couple of favors, I'm sure we could arrange it so that your life here would be much, _much _more comfortable."

A hand snaked around her thin waist and rested on a spot that was far too low on her back. He was breathing heavily into her ear now, as his other hand started to crawl under the loose shirt that was a few sizes too big for her. Her entire body immediately froze, and all she could do was cast a pleading glance towards the two guards that were stationed at the door - but they only sneered at her, their cruel, muffled laughter piercing through her panicking mind.

"Don't worry, I promise you'll enjoy this too," he whispered in delight, as his hand moved towards the waistband of her trousers.

The last thing she clearly remembered was a blinding fury assailing her head and invading every single part of her body as her mind blanked out. Everything went white for a moment, and when her sight finally cleared up and her consciousness returned, she found herself staring at the obese man lying on the floor unconscious, blood continuously spurting out of his obviously broken nose.

Her right hand throbbed with pain, and she could feel the skin around her knuckles already beginning to swell up. It took her a single glance at her own hand to see that it was rapidly turning bright red; it took her another moment to connect the dots and realize that she had been the one to punch the man down. An emotion of fear ripped through her body as she realized that she had completely lost control in a single second, and had absolutely no memory of doing so. This had never happened to her before - she had never hurt anyone in her life before, and the thought of losing complete control of her body even if for a second was terrifying to no ends.

"YOU!"

An explosion of white spots suddenly burst across her line of vision, accompanied by an intense pain at the back of her head. She collapsed onto her knees within a mere second, using one hand to support herself and the other to clutch at her fresh wound.

"No wonder you were sent to this institution," one of the two guards spat, holding a baton in his hand while using the other to forcefully drag her back onto her feet by roughly grabbing her by the hair. "We always get all the psychos. I guess even little girls who look as harmless as you can be insane - and to think that I was about to buy your bullshit story about being innocent too! Kids these days sure are good actors, aren't they?"

His partner let out a guffaw at the comment. She had to bite her lip in order to stop herself from making her situation any worse, but it still didn't stop her lower lip from violently trembling. She could feel the blood slowly trickling down her neck, a feeling that felt foreign to her - she had never been hit before in her life, not even by her own parents. The worst injury she had ever sustained was probably the small scar she had on the side of her thigh from when she had fallen off her bicycle when she was twelve years old.

She wanted to tell them that she had no idea of what had just happened, that it was as if something had grabbed control of her body - but she knew that those kinds of statements would only make herself appear more insane. It was just what they wanted to hear from her, an excuse to find her guilty.

"Stupid girl," the guard standing across from her snarled, menacingly raising his baton in the air once again. "You had the chance to live a quiet life in here... you're gonna regret it real bad, kiddo."

"Let's throw her to the wolves!" the guard holding her by the hair roared, looking almost maniacally excited. "Let her have a taste of the misery in here!"

"Taste it?" his partner cackled, his eyes bulging. "She's going to drown in it!"

"You can't..." she whispered, struggling against the man's strong grip. Her knees were growing weaker with every passing second, and she could tell that she wouldn't be able resist much longer.

The two men howled with laughter, and she felt her hatred for them and this place grow impossibly deeper. She quietly realized that she had probably just signed her own death warrant - there were no such things as rules in here. All that awaited her now was the misery, just as they had said. She clenched her teeth as they forced her hands into a pair of handcuffs that painfully dug into her skin.

"I have an idea," the shorter one of the two spoke up, with a terrifying glint in his eyes. "Instead of throwing her into any cell, why don't we go ahead and just put her in Cell 7? Then she'll _really _get a taste of what it's like in here."

Though she had no idea of what they were talking about about, and no clue of what 'Cell 7' was supposed to mean, the self-satisfied slimy looks on their faces were enough to tell her that whatever they had in store for her was something that she would never be able to live through.

It terrified her to no ends.

"Welcome to Konoha Institutional Reformatory," they chorused together, as the darkness began to close in on her.

Haruno Sakura. 18 years old. An everyday student who had been sentenced to a lifetime in prison.

A small part of her remembered the flash of fury that had overwhelmed her, and she silently wondered in fear if maybe, there was a side of her that belonged in here after all.

* * *

**SWAN SONG**

**stfuSPARKS**

* * *

_chapter i._

_the day the world died_

* * *

**Konoha Institutional Reformatory - Building A **

**10:24 AM**

* * *

Konoha Institutional Reformatory was a peculiar place.

It was located at the outskirts of the city at the top of a lone hill that no one ever dared to approach; there was no reason to do so in the first place, since there was literally nothing else in its surrounding area. There was only one dirt road that led up to the main gates - the rest of the facility was surrounded by a thick forest that was deemed dangerous due to its steep slopes and maze-like landscape. The only people that were ever seen were the inmates, the guards and the occasional truck drivers that delivered supplies once a month.

Not many people dared to approach the place, but everybody knew about it nonetheless. It had become some sort of urban legend to the everyday citizens in the city of Konoha, as the most dangerous prison currently in existence in Fire Country. Some had even gone ahead and dubbed it the 'Crazy Den' - a name given simply because all of its prisoners were, in fact, essentially crazy.

The 'Crazy Den' was basically famous for its criminals: they were the ones who had committed horrible, heinous sins that could only be explained by insanity and failure of the mind. They were the ones who were so dangerous that they had to be separated from the other, petty criminals - they were the ones who were sent to be imprisoned, never to be released again.

Now, as she walked through the dimly lit hallway of one of the three buildings of the facility, Sakura was slowly coming to the cruel realization that what had always just been an urban myth was morphing into a reality. The ugly oversized orange prison uniform uncomfortably chafed against her sensitive skin, a sharp contrast from the soft material her trendy clothes had been made of. Her hands were shackled in front of her, preventing any sort of excessive movement as she was led down to her cell.

She slowly raised her eyes as they came to an abrupt stop in front of a menacingly large metal door. The guard swung it open with a rough yank, and proceeded to give her a rough shove on the back, making her stumble forwards.

"Here's your new cellmate. Do what you wish with her, it's not like she's going to last in here anyways, especially with you lot."

She caught glimpse of a lone boy sitting on one of the cots as she was thrust into the small cell. On a more careful inspection, she noticed that the cell looked far too disorganized to be inhabited solely by a single person; there were signs of at least one or two more people living here judging by the various diverse lifestyle patterns that were strewn across the room. The small area was scarcely illuminated by a small ray of sunlight that struggled to shine through the tiny barred window at the top of one of the walls, creating uneven shadows on the dull gray floor.

The guard slammed the heavy door shut behind her with a loud slam that made her flinch. "Have fun in hell, sweetheart," was all he had to say to her before he walked off, looking thoroughly amused. The silence was filled with the sound of his footsteps rapidly fading away and various shouts and leers that were coming from other inmates from nearby cells.

When she finally grew conscious of her body, she realized that there was something warm trickling down her neck; she shakily stood up and looked at her own reflection in the cracked mirror hanging on the wall: her peculiar pastel pink hair was messy, a result of it being roughly grabbed a few minutes ago. It was stained with a dark shade of crimson that made her hands tremble for a moment; her brilliant bottle green orbs were hidden behind a few stray strands of hair, outlined with dark shadows due to her recent lack of sleep.

They were right: she was never going to last in here. She was falling apart already.

She collapsed onto her knees, finally faced with the horrible reality of her current situation. A glance behind her back told her that the boy was going to make no effort to fill the awkward yet strangely peaceful silence between them, and she found herself feeling slightly relieved. He was a man who potentially held the power to make her life in here a living hell - or perhaps even worse. The sole thought was absolutely terrifying, and she found herself unwilling to speak to him for the time being.

He was tall and lean, his skin a shade of pale beige that heavily contrasted with his messy midnight locks. His face was delicate and long, yet at the same time held defining features of masculinity; a strong jawline and high cheekbones jutted out under his long bangs that partially hid his charcoal eyes that were sharp enough to make her slightly wince. The corners of his eyes slightly slanted upwards, giving him an intelligent and aristocratic look.

He wasn't merely handsome - he was beautiful; but while it could have been a fat, greasy elder man like the director, his good looks did nothing to ease her fear in her present situation. The fact that he was of the opposite sex alone was enough to send chills down her spine; there was no telling what a man was capable of doing right now, especially when she was so defenseless.

A couple of slow minutes passed by, and it was almost as if she had never been forced into this cell. He was already lying back on his small cot, his long legs jutting out over the edge due to the mismatched size of the bed in proportion to his body. His eyes were closed, his long lashes dusting over his flawless skin as he quietly breathed in and out. Her own breathing had gradually calmed down by now, and she was left alone to dwell in her own terrifying imagination of what would happen from here.

Their silence was interrupted as the door slammed open once again, a young blond boy stepping into the room making it seem even smaller. His electric cobalt blue eyes shined under the shadows as they immediately glanced over towards her, a slight glimmer of danger flashing through his wide eyes that unlike the other boy's, were large and round. His face split into a handsome crooked grin, several scars across both cheeks stretching along his face. The glimmer in his eyes was gone so fast that it left her wondering if it had all been in her head.

"I didn't know we had a new cellmate, but it's very nice to meet you all the same," he cheerfully greeted her, with a look so warm that it seemed completely out of place in such a gloomy place. "I can't really guarantee you'll have a good time in here, but I promise none of us are assholes." He had a wild look to him and his language was slightly crude, but the tone of his voice was so light and friendly that she found herself automatically trusting this boy, against her instincts.

"Ah... I-I..." she tried to speak, but the words immediately died in her throat, making her choke. Her heart was pounding so loud that she could hear the blood pumping through her veins. Before she had a chance to gather herself, he had already caught sight of her wound and the terrifying glimmer flashed through his eyes once again.

"What happened here?" he gently asked, crouching down until he was on the same eye level as her. He softly brushed her hair away from her face with no hesitation, making her flinch back in response to his bold action. He widened his eyes, immediately sensing her discomfort and quickly snatched his hand back as if he had been burned. He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "Well that's no way to treat a lady, no matter the time or place," he finally muttered, almost to himself as his expression morphed into one of concern. He stood back up and grabbed a blanket from the cot above the other quiet raven haired boy, ripping a piece off with ease. He handed it to her, making sure his skin didn't into contact with hers. "Doesn't look too bad, but you should still use this to stop the bleeding."

She gingerly took the small piece of cloth from his large, tan hand, feeling a slight pressure of pain as she pushed it onto her fresh wound. "Th... thank you," she timidly offered, her eyes immediately lowering to the floor.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto," the boy piped up, sheepishly running a hand through his rebellious golden locks. "That lazy guy behind you is Sasuke, and the other creepy guy standing behind me is Sai." Sakura momentarily looked back up again in surprise - she hadn't even noticed the latter boy standing behind Naruto. His skin was a sickly shade of pale ivory that made him look like he had never stood under the sun before in his life. Everything about him was almost like looking at a black and white photograph; there was absolutely no color to him, not even in his pitch black eyes. His hair was dull and flat, a shade of ink that she only saw behind closed eyes. The corners of his lips had curved up into a wide, polite smile, but his eyes remained dead.

He made her shiver.

"We're not really good people - I mean Sasuke is a bastard most of the time, and Sai is socially retarded, but I promise we're not _bad _people," Naruto spoke up again, with a smile that was so sincere it made her relax despite the absurdity of her current situation. "I'm not saying you should blindly trust us right away, but I promise we won't do anything to hurt you, so you don't have to be scared of us, okay?"

"I'm Haruno Sakura." Her mouth was already speaking her own name before she could even realized she was answering him.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto happily chimed with a beam, attaching the overly familiar suffix to her name without any hesitation. "Welcome to Cell 7. You're a part of us now, so you don't have to worry about running into trouble with us by your side!"

She stopped to consider his words; Sasuke seemed little rough and Sai slightly scared her but they didn't seem to be terrible people; Naruto was almost even nice. She was starting to get carried away with her thoughts when she suddenly remembered what the guards had told her right before locking her up with them - they had placed her in here as a form of punishment. This was no mistake either - they had been far too cocky and confident to be wrong, but what did that mean then? What was wrong with Cell 7? _What was the secret behind them? _

Her train of thought was interrupted by a scoff. The boy named Sasuke was finally looking at them now, his eyes open and almost looking bored. "You barely know the girl," he spoke for the first time, his voice a few octaves lower than Naruto's. "And can you really promise her something of the sort? She's probably going to be in here for years. You won't be able to protect her forever."

Sakura's heart immediately dropped at the frightening yet truthful implications behind his words. There was no guarantee that she would be able to escape danger for such a long period of time, especially in a place like this, even with a few seemingly friendly cellmates by her side. There was in fact, a small chance of her coming out of this experience completely unscathed. She blankly looked into the pitch black darkness that was her future.

There was no light here.

"I can promise to try," Naruto argued back stubbornly, unwavering as his eyes narrowed into an almost challenging frown.

"Can you protect her from yourself though?" Sasuke calmly answered back, closing his eyes again. The cell was once again encased in a frightening silence, no longer peaceful nor comfortable.

There was an abrupt change in Naruto's eyes. "I'm not the same person as back then," he muttered, almost looking irritated. "I've changed."

Though she didn't understand what he was saying, there was an ominous feeling behind his quiet words. She had to remind herself once again that no matter who she met in here, they were all criminals in the end. These were not like her friends at school - they had all committed disgusting crimes at one point in their lives. They were in here because they had been declared insane by the state - she was trusting them far too easily, lowering her walls and just asking to be attacked.

"Welcome to Cell 7," Sai spoke up in an alarmingly calm voice, his unique smile spreading across his face once again. Sakura clenched her jaw and curled her hands into fists, trying to hide the tremor in her shoulders.

She was not going to be deceived twice.

* * *

**Downtown Konoha - Green Lotus Cafe **

**11:42 AM**

* * *

"Have you heard the news?"

Gossip had always been, in Nara Shikamaru's opinion, something absolutely trivial and meaningless. He was someone who preferred to believe in true facts, not baseless rumors that had no solid foundations. On the other hand, average people seemed to thrive off of this simple action, which was probably why he didn't get along with them - not that he got along with people to begin with.

"Hey, are you listening to me?"

Except for Inuzuka Kiba. But Inuzuka Kiba had always been some sort of exception.

"I'm listening to you," Shikamaru replied sullenly, sipping his bitter coffee - black, just the way he liked it. "I'm choosing to ignore you. They're two different things." The brunette boy in front of him childishly pouted at the boring response, his sharp eyes narrowing into a frown.

"You know, you should treat me better. I'm you're only friend after all - what would you ever do if I decided to just get up and leave your lazy ass?"

Shikamaru grimaced in disgust. "Stop making it sound like we're a couple," he muttered. "If you decided to get up and leave, I would go home and finish my report like I had originally planned on doing earlier this morning. And I'd probably get a lot more work done in general if you weren't my friend."

"Ouch," Kiba replied, but didn't seem to be upset at all as he leaned back and grinned, stretching his arms forwards. They had always been friends for as long as he could remember, and this side of Shikamaru was nothing new to him. "There was a murder just ten minutes away from here this morning," he continued their discussion as if it was completely normal. "I was there to witness it too - man, I've never seen anything like it. It got my heart pounding really hard and all!"

Shikamaru wasn't exactly surprised - murders were rare around Konoha, which was considered to be one of the most crime-free cities in the region, but they were not completely unheard of either. Plus, it took much more than that to surprise him nowadays - it may have seemed cold but he had grown accustomed to mankind's inhumanity. "It's not like it's the first time," he commented casually, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but have you ever experienced one first hand?" Kiba's eyes were sparkling now, a wild look hidden within them. "And man, let me tell you, this murder was unlike anything else I've ever heard of. The guy didn't even try to disguise himself or anything - he did it in plain daylight! And he didn't even use a weapon; you know how he killed the poor guy? He _bit _him. Just chewed a large chunk of his neck off. It was absolutely crazy, it was like the guy was completely insane in the head."

"I think you're getting too worked up over this," Shikamaru honestly told him with a skeptical look. "He's just another nutjob, great. He'll probably be sent to the prison up on that hill and it'll all be forgotten by tomorrow morning."

Kiba frowned again, looking thoughtful. "I wonder what it's like in that prison," he mumbled, partially to himself. "Who the hell would want to work in a place like that? And how do they manage to handle all the wackos that get sent there? Well I guess it's technically an institution, so they probably have doctors and stuff too, right?"

"They're mentally unstable criminals," Shikamaru answered, rolling his eyes. "I doubt that anyone's actually making an effort to treat them in that place. It's just an excuse to separate them from all the other normal criminals."

Kiba suddenly shuddered, his face turning slightly pale. "I wonder what kind of people are locked up in there. I bet they're all sorts of monsters - they can't be human, that's for sure. No human would ever act like them."

Shikamaru stayed silent for a moment. "I guess we'll never know," he finally replied with a shrug, taking another sip of his coffee. "In any case, it's probably a good thing that guy decided to commit the crime in public. At least he was stupid enough to get caught, so he won't be committing any more crimes in the near future."

"Still gives me the creeps," Kiba argued with a disgusted look on his face. "I wasn't close enough to see the details, but someone said he was actually chewing on the flesh before swallowing it. Can you imagine someone who's capable of doing something of the sort?" He shook his head in response to his own question. "My sister even ran out and tried to help the other dudes who were trying to stop the guy. Thank god there aren't many people like that pyscho in the world, right?"

"There are more than you think," Shikamaru somberly muttered, and abruptly lost interest in their conversation as he pulled out his neglected report. His intelligent, almond shaped eyes immediately started to rapidly move as he intently read the jumbled words, absorbed in his own world. Kiba, who also didn't feel like talking about this subject anymore, moved on to talk about something entirely different, his eyes lighting up as he started to talk about the latest model who was gaining popularity among teenagers nowadays.

Neither had a clue that the world as they knew it was rapidly morphing before their very eyes.

* * *

**Konoha Institutional Reformatory - Building B - Cafeteria **

**12:37 PM **

* * *

It was lunch time when Sakura finally realized what the guards had meant.

Her stomach was silently growling, a result of her not having eaten a single meal in the last 24 hours. She was currently in a state in which any meal at all would have been appetizing, but the thought of being in the same room with so many other men was beginning to make her physically sick as she stood in line, waiting for her meal. She could feel their stares burning into her back as she tried her best to keep her head high.

"Don't worry," Naruto whispered, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. The gesture would have normally made her flinch, but there was a smooth, warm strength in his voice that immediately calmed her down, despite her reluctance to trust him. She felt inexplicably safe at that very moment, standing in between the tall and silent Sasuke, and the overly friendly Naruto. Sai was also close by, standing right behind Naruto's broader figure.

It wasn't until they had taken a seat that the trouble finally started.

She had barely taken a single bite out of the fairly mediocre meal when a menacing shadow loomed over their table. Sakura was the only one who looked up in curiosity, not noticing that the other three boys by her side had shown little to no interest at all in the newcomer.

The man standing over them looked like he was just a few years older than herself and her cellmates - he was also slightly shorter than Sasuke but broader than Naruto, with well defined muscles that were clearly visible even under his uniform. The look on his face was far from friendly as he looked down on them, silently observing for a short minute. He finally opened his mouth when he was seemingly satisfied with what he saw.

"I heard you Cell 7 losers got a new teammate - it's been the talk of the prison since this morning," the man sneered, an unpleasant expression dawning on his face. "Aren't you a lucky bunch." His eyes lingered over her body for a second too long. "Have you tried tasting her yet? She looks like she'd be _delicious._" Several of the men that had gathered around them started to loudly laugh as Sakura felt her cheeks burn. Never in her life had she been objectified in such a manner.

Sasuke, Naruto and Sai showed no signs of acknowledging his presence, and continued with their meal as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Naruto calmly asked for the salt and Sasuke wordlessly passed it to him, as if it was completely normal. Hesitantly, Sakura followed their example and lowered her head again, picking up her plastic spoon.

"It's a shame you were put into Cell 7, love," the man purred, leaning closer towards her petite frame. "If you were put into a cell with me, I could have made sure that no one else in here could touch you." He glanced over at Naruto's serene face with distaste. "Did they tell you that they've made an enemy out of every single person in here, criminals and guards alike? Being with them is like signing your own death warrant, sweetheart."

Everything suddenly made sense in her head. _This _was why the guards had insisted on placing her in Cell 7: it wasn't because they members themselves were dangerous; it was because everyone in here hated them. They weren't so calm because they were level-headed people - they were like this because this was apparently an everyday occurrence that they had grown accustomed to. They were acting like everything was normal because this _was _normal for them, and the guards tended to turn a blind eye to it. By being a part of them, she was automatically making an enemy out of every single person in this facility.

"Sakura-chan, it's a nice day today, isn't it? We should go outside and take a breath of fresh air after we're done eating," Naruto spoke up, flashing her another grin as he continued his oblivious act. She stared at him, unsure of how she was supposed to react; it was hard to ignore the other man when he was beginning to look more furious by the second.

"Listen when you're being spoken to, maggots," he roared viciously, while the other men snickered at the derogatory term. His hand reached out to grab the edge of their table, meaning to overturn it. Before he could follow through with his action, Sai gently placed a pale hand on the other man's thicker wrist.

"Zaku, is it?" the boy politely asked, his trademark eerie smile slowly appearing once again. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that it's rude to interrupt people during their meals?"

Before Sakura could even start to make sense out of what was happening, there was a sickening crack and everything around them turned deadly quiet as the man named Zaku started to howl in pain, snatching his hand back. When she was able to take a better glimpse at him, she could clearly see that the joint was bent at a strange angle, which was most probably the source of his pain.

"You asshole!" one of the inmates around them screamed, a murderous look on his face. "How dare you lay a hand on your superiors?"

"And since when are any of you our superiors?" Naruto finally set his plastic spoon down. The tone of his voice was so calm that it slightly surprised her; she looked over to see that the glint she had seen in his eyes when she had first met him a couple hours ago was back, accompanied by a feral grin that was tugging at the corners of his lips. "Just 'cause Zaku's dad is some bigshot out in the real world doesn't matter to me. If I'm a maggot in here, you all are as well."

He almost looked eager... to do what, she wasn't quite sure. This was not the same boy who had smiled at her. This was someone completely different.

Sakura sat very, very still in her seat, feeling the fear slowly crawl over her entire body once again. It was abnormal how Sai had broken the man's wrist with a single hand, and she couldn't forget the serene look on his face as he had done so. It had been brief, but she had seen it: the momentary look of pure enjoyment that had lit up on the black and white boy's face at that very moment, as if the photograph had finally come to life.

These people were criminals, as well as insane, and it was something that she was forgetting far too easily.

And even though the three of them were on her side for now, there were at least twenty men surrounding them right now; her three cellmates could have been the three strongest men in the building, and it still wouldn't have mattered against the overwhelming number of men that were getting ready to fight them. They would be defeated, and then she would be at the mercy of all these other criminals who were staring at her with hungry eyes.

They had been right. Cell 7 _was _hell.

"We'll give you a truce," Zaku hissed out in pain, back on his feet again as he carefully cradled his injured wrist. The look in his eyes was absolutely infernal and his voice was trembling in rage as he tried to suppress his anger. "You know you can't win against all of us. If you hand that pretty little flower over to us, we'll leave without hurting you too much." A twisted grin spread across his face. "We'll return her after we're finished - I'm sure you won't mind used goods."

Sakura unconsciously let out a small whimper at his disgusting words, and she found herself sinking lower in her seat as if she would magically be able to disappear on the spot. Naruto was on his feet by now, and Sasuke and Sai were both following his example. It was too late though; their table was entirely surrounded, with no way of escape.

The blonde turned his back to her to face Zaku. "I'll make you a deal instead," he suggested, his face not visible from the angle she was sitting in. "You leave now, and we won't kill you. How does that sound?"

Sakura's jade eyes widened in horror as she saw something glint at the palm of his hand, hidden under the sleeves that were slightly too long on him. It was a small, albeit sharp knife - she briefly wondered where he had acquired such a dangerous weapon in such a well guarded facility. She was pretty sure she had never seen anything other than a kitchen knife in her entire life - and the mere thought of even seeing someone use one scared her.

Their tense dispute was suddenly interrupted by the loud sound of a bell ringing throughout the entire building. "Time to go back into your cells!" one of the guards barked, heading towards them. "Don't make us waste any time, hurry up," he added irritably, not addressing their dispute at all.

"Tch," Zaku spat under his breath, his eyes narrowing. "Don't think this is finished, Uzumaki. We'll be back to take her, and I'll enjoy hearing your screams when the time comes."

Before the guards could reach them, the mass of inmates had quickly thinned out in the blink of an eye. Sakura uncertainly glanced towards Naruto, and quietly noticed that the knife that had been glinting in his hand had rapidly disappeared. When he turned around to meet her gaze, his eyes were once again filled with concern.

"You alright, Sakura-chan?" he asked her worriedly. His voice was back to normal, the frightening look in his eyes long gone.

"Yeah," she shakily said, forcing a small grin onto her face. "But I'm kinda wishing I was a guy right now."

Naruto let out a hearty laugh, seemingly relieved at the fact that she was doing alright. "Pink hair would look terrible on a man," he commented, scrunching his eyebrows. "But don't wish something like that quite yet. I told you we'd be here to protect you, didn't I?" He offered her another one of his comforting smiles.

Once again, she found herself believing in his words. She decided to not ask about the knife she had seen, and despite the fact that she found herself trusting this boy, she had to firmly remind herself once again that Naruto was also a criminal.

These people were dangerous, and she was a sheep among wolves.

* * *

**Downtown Konoha - Leaf Intersection**

**7:28 PM **

* * *

Shikamaru tapped his foot impatiently, unconsciously letting out an irritated sigh.

It was evening already; the sun had begun to set, casting a bloody shadow among the gradually darkening streets of the city that were full of young people who were out getting ready to fully enjoy their long awaited Friday night. The intersection he was currently waiting at was crowded as always, souring his already irritated mood even further as he waiting for the traffic light to change to red so that he could cross.

Kiba had spent the rest of the afternoon wasting time talking about trivial matters that Shikamaru had already forgotten about. He really didn't understand people like Kiba, who preferred the noisy company of others over the comfortable solitude that came with being alone. The only reason he remotely even tolerated the canine boy was because they were childhood friends, and though Shikamaru would never admit it out loud, Kiba was one of the only people who undeniably understood his difficult personality the best.

His train of thought was interrupted when an already inebriated woman in a skimpy dress shoved past him, making him clumsily stumble over his feet for a couple of seconds. He barely had the time to recover when another man violently pushed him aside, sending him a nasty glare in the process.

Shikamaru let out another frustrated sigh; this was precisely why he didn't like people. Humans tended to be rude and self-centered, not caring about anyone or anything else but themselves. Sometimes he found himself wondering how much better his life would have been if he was the only one on the planet.

His patience finally reached its limits when someone pushed by him for the third time, successfully making him trip over. The concrete scraped against his bare palms as his arms reflexively shot out to block the fall; he winced as he felt a slight burning sensation in both hands as the pavement harshly cut into his skin.

This was precisely why he hated people. They were disrespectful, unapologetic and rude, and Shikamaru hated them. His irritation increased tenfold as he found himself in an unflattering position on the ground, earning the unwanted attention and amusement of a couple of people around him. His head whipped upwards as he glared at the person who was responsible for his sudden fall; the man's face wasn't visible from behind, but he seemed like a fairly middle aged office worker judging by the few gray streaks in his dark brown hair and his tidy suit that was commonly worn by everyday office men. The only thing that struck Shikamaru as strange was the fact that the man was limping oddly, dragging his body as if it weighed an entire ton. His arms were lifelessly dangling by his sides as if they were boneless, and his neck was tilted as a peculiar angle as he began to cross the street despite the fact that the light was still green and a large number of cars was whizzing by.

Several of those cars came to a screeching halt and a couple of girls began to scream as the man carelessly continued to walk forwards, nearly risking his life. Numerous drivers were rolling down their windows, shouting profanities and gesturing rude things; yet the man paid them no attention at all as he continued his painfully slow walk towards the other side.

"Hey you!"

Shikamaru's attention was suddenly diverted as he heard a high pitched shriek from one of the cars that had stopped. His eyes immediately landed on a furious looking woman who was holding a cellphone against her ear; judging by the state of the car she had just exited from, she had accidentally crashed into the car in front of her.

"Yeah hold up a minute, this asshole just appeared out of nowhere and nearly killed me," she muttered into her phone, narrowing her overly made up eyes at the source of all the commotion. Shikamaru slowly got back onto his feet, his eyes never leaving the woman who had proceeded to angrily march over towards the eccentric office worker. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Are you fucking blind or something?" Her angry screams were perfectly audible despite the fact that many people around them had started to murmur among themselves. "Can't you see that the damn light is still green? You could have killed me! And you better be ready to pay for the damage, because-"

Her furious rant was abruptly cut off. It took Shikamaru a full second to realize that she had been cut off by the sound of her own agonizing scream.

His eyes widened as the scene before him seemed to unfold in slow motion. In a split second, the man had whirled around, and within the next he had sunk his yellow, decaying teeth into her neck.

His face was finally visible, but Shikamaru quietly wished to himself that he had never seen it to begin with. This man was no human - he was a _monster. _It was unlike anything he had ever seen in his life before; one of his eyes was so bloodshot it was disgustingly red. His other eye, was not present, leaving a dark, empty socket in its wake. His skin had come off in certain places as if he was a rotting corpse, showing the raw muscle and bone underneath, almost like a horrific costume.

"_And he didn't even use a weapon; you know how he killed the poor guy? He bit him. Just chewed a large chunk of his neck off._"

Kiba's words from earlier in the day suddenly echoed inside of Shikamaru's head. He knew it was a long stretch, but he couldn't help but wonder if this was an exact replica of the scene Kiba had witnessed this very morning. However, the other boy had said that he had been too far to see any details - Shikamaru, on the other hand, was seeing all of this from a front row seat he had definitely not asked for.

People around him were screaming in horror now; several were running away while others rushed forwards in an attempt to help the poor woman who was obviously beyond assistance by this point. Her body was still twitching, but her screams had already died down minutes ago. The part where the man had bit her was almost like something out of a horror movie - the visible muscle in her neck disappeared from Shikamaru's line of sight as the monster leaned in to sink his teeth into her once again.

"Ah... police..." Shikamaru blinked, the full reality of the situation before him finally hitting him. He reached inside his pockets and jolted as his phone slipped through his hands covered in cold sweat, the delicate glass screen cracking as it crashed onto the concrete ground. He picked up his damaged Iphone and unsuccessfully tried to dial 911, his fingers trembling so badly that they kept on hitting the wrong numbers. He momentarily paused when he realized that several people around him were already on the phone, frantically describing the situation at hand in a frenzied panic. The police had already been called; all he could do now was watch.

Another deafening scream filled the air, and Shikamaru numbly looked back up to see that one of the men who had been trying to help apprehend the criminal was cradling his bloody hand to his chest, with a terrified expression on his face. "The bastard bit me!" he yelled out in horror, falling onto his back as he tried to back away. "This guy is batshit crazy! Somebody call the police!"

It wasn't long before the panicked screams were replaced by police sirens. The man was quickly shot down and within the next couple of minutes, it was almost as if nothing had ever happened. The police had left after collecting all the witnesses' contact information, and the now deceased criminal, victim and several of the injured had been rapidly transported away in an ambulance. People were still terrified, but many of them had already begun to return home, giving up on their now ruined Friday night. Everything was almost back to normal.

The vast blood stain in the middle of the street, however, was proof that everything that had just happened had been real. It was probably going to be gone by tomorrow morning, but Shikamaru still couldn't shake off the feeling that something had already begun to change.

He returned home that night, not knowing that the wheels of destruction had already begun to turn.

* * *

**Konoha Institutional Reformatory - Building A - Cell 7 **

**12:49 AM**

* * *

"You're not going to survive like this."

Sakura's bright green eyes snapped open in the pitch black darkness of the cell when she heard a familiar voice break the silence.

It was the first time Uchiha Sasuke was directly speaking to her, and she felt a chill run down her spine at the sound of his deep voice. She stayed quiet for a couple more seconds, the silence between them disrupted by the sound of Naruto's loud snores coming from the cot across from hers. She knew, however, that there was no deceiving Sasuke, and found herself quietly answering him.

"I'm not like you guys," she whispered back, feeling the panic rise to her throat once again. She wanted to stay strong, but the fear was unavoidable in her current situation. _They _were the ones who were strong. They had actually killed. They were the ones who had been capable of committing horrific crimes. They could deal with this. They were everything that she was not, and even though she wanted to keep it that way, she knew things were going to have to change in order for her to survive.

"You're weak," Sasuke spoke up again, his voice a quiet murmur. "And the weak have no place in here."

Sakura felt a sudden surge of anger rush through her blood, and before she knew it, the words were already spilling out of her mouth. "I'm just a normal girl," she blurted out, the tears finally welling up in her eyes. "I'm not guilty, but they locked me up in here anyways - I'm innocent, unlike the rest of you. I don't have the heart nor mind of a criminal, so you can't possibly expect me to survive the way you guys are doing in this situation." It was too late to stop herself now. These were the words she had wanted to say all day, the words that she had been keeping locked up inside of her. "Even though they say I'm guilty, I'm not! I swear I've never purposely hurt anyone else in my entire life, let alone committed murder!" She was out of breath by the time she was finished, and her words were met with a long pause.

"Do you think we care if you're innocent or guilty?" His words were cold and curt. "It doesn't matter who you are or what you did or didn't do in here. All that matters is that you _are _here, and you can't rely on Naruto forever - Sai does whatever he wants to and I don't care about protecting you, so you're going to have to toughen up if you want to actually make it in here. If you don't, you'll just end up being a hindrance to us."

Sakura bolted up in her cot, her small hands curling into angry fists as her shoulders trembled with frustration. "A hindrance to _you_?" she echoed, her voice extremely strained. Her tears silently spilled over s she felt herself snap. "They put _me_ in here with _you_ because they said it was the worst kind of punishment they could give me. You guys are hated by every single person in this prison; the guards don't even do anything when the others try to attack you. Putting me in Cell 7 is like putting a big, red target on my back."

"And don't you think it's the same for us?" His voice was harsher now, and she could almost see his glare in the dark. "Stop whining like a little girl. You don't think that by being the only girl in this entire facility, you've made the targets on our backs even bigger? Naruto is dumb enough to risk himself every time you're threatened, but it's only a matter of time before he gets caught up and has to face the consequences of his stupid decision."

"_Don't_," she snapped, "Group me together with you lot. I'm not a criminal like you."

The room was silent once again.

"I warned you," was the only reply she got, and she heard him turn his back to her as the springs of his cot creaked loudly under his weight. She knew the conversation had ended - yet she still couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks.

He was fundamentally right - she would have to become stronger in order to survive, but the only future she could see for herself at the moment was still black.

She spent the rest of the night crying herself to sleep; yet at the same time she vowed to herself that this would be the last time she would cry.

She was weak, but that could change.

* * *

**Downtown Konoha - Police Station **

**5:32 AM **

* * *

"Well, that's pretty strange."

Hatake Kakashi looked up from his worn out book to observe his long time co-worker, Asuma, who wore a concerned look as he finally got off the phone after ten minutes of what had appeared to be an urgent conversation. The silver haired man merely raised an eyebrow, a seemingly questioning look on his face.

It was currently sometime around five in the morning, and across the horizon, the sun had already begun to rise on a new day. Kakashi usually hated working overtime, but two bizarre murders in one day in a city like Konoha was enough to request his attention almost immediately. Most of the night, however, had been spent waiting for a phone call from the hospital, leaving Kakashi to wonder if these extra hours were really needed.

Ah, the life of an investigator was hard.

"I just talked to Tsunade," Asuma spoke up, lighting up another cigarette as his thick brows furrowed together into a troubled frown. Kakashi immediately recognized the mentioned name as the one belonging to the woman in charge at the hospital in which their culprits and victims had been taken to. "Apparently she and her staff came up with some odd observations, so she said she'd look into it one more time. To be honest I'm pretty skeptical too, so I just let her."

Kakashi's sigh was barely audible behind the scarf that covered the lower half of his face. He closed the book in his hand with a quiet snap: his reading time for today was obviously over.

"What did they discover?" he asked lazily, leaning back in his chair after slipping the book into the inner pocket of his coat.

"Well apparently both the culprits in yesterday's bizarre murders showed some strange symptoms," Asuma started to explain, looking confused at his own words as he attempted to describe the newly acquired information. "Tsunade said that their bodies exhibited signs of being dead for at least three days - but we all know that's impossible because they were up and about yesterday causing ruckus in the city, up until the very moment they were shot."

Kakashi curiously cocked his head to the side. "So what you're saying is that their bodies were physically dead during the time they performed the murders?"

Asuma shook his head. "That's what _she's _saying. I hate to admit it, but it would explain why their bodies were in such a deteriorated state when they were brought in. Have you seen the photos? It looks like parts of their skin were straight out rotting." He paused, frowning once again. "Of course, that's a completely absurd theory." He shook his head, letting out a skeptical chuckle. "But anyways, we conducted background researches on both men, and apparently both of them were pretty normal prior to the attacks. Both have completely clean records, and both have been physically and mentally stable throughout their entire lives."

"So the question is, what drove them to commit such crimes?" Kakashi's only visible eye was shining with quiet enthusiasm - a look that Asuma immediately recognized.

"You're enjoying this case way too much, Kakashi," Asuma's tone was almost disapproving. "We had two terrible crimes in our city yesterday, and yet here you are, acting like a little child who's received an early Christmas present."

The silver haired man's eye crinkled upwards as he let out a deep chuckle. "But we never get cases of the sort. You have to admit it's a little exciting."

"Exciting my ass," Asuma mumbled in a disgruntled manner. Kakashi was a brilliant thinker, but an extremely eccentric character. He seemed to find amusement in the strangest of cases, and sometimes it thoroughly frightened him just a bit.

"Two men who are not connected in any way whatsoever," Kakashi started to speak, and Asuma knew that it was too late to stop him now. "Despite the fact that they have never come across each other's existences, they commit gruesome murders in the same exact manner, on the same exact day. Both men have never caused any trouble, yet they both display similar symptoms of violence and perhaps even mental instability. What went wrong?" He paused for his moment. "The rotting status of their bodies happened before they were shot, and we can safely assume that it has to do with the fact that they both apparently went insane right before they committed their respective crimes. Can we assume that they were both afflicted with some sort of disease that caused their bodies to deteriorate in such a manner? And perhaps could that be the cause of their sudden out of character behavior?"

Asuma looked impressed. "I guess there's nothing that escapes you, Kakashi." He proceeded to look uncomfortable for a moment. "Tsunade actually said that she tested their blood, and something strange came up. She suspects it might be some advanced form of rabies, but it doesn't correspond to any other disease that we know of, so she's checking it once again while going through the entire database."

Kakashi suddenly turned solemn after hearing the new information. "If it's indeed an advanced form of rabies, or even if it's just a disease, our killers may have potentially infected several onlookers. If I'm not mistaken, they also tried to attack outsiders who tried to stop them. If that's the case, couldn't they possibly be infected with the same disease and show similar violent symptoms? And if it's really a disease that we've never come across before, those people should be quarantined as soon as possible before an outbreak happens, considering that we don't have an antidote ready at hand."

Asuma awkwardly scratched the back of his head, seemingly at a loss for words. "That's a big stretch, Kakashi. We're not even sure if it's even a disease yet. Plus, if there was something so serious going around, wouldn't the hospitals already be notified?"

Kakashi immediately rose to his feet, rapidly gathering several of his things. "That's enough for now. I'm going to the hospital myself to check up on a couple of things. If you learn anything new, call me right away on my cellphone."

Asuma put out his cigarette just as the silver haired man swiftly walked out of the office without waiting for a response. He sighed, rubbing his temples as he collapsed back into his seat.

Kakashi had always been an extremely sharp man, but for once, Asuma fervently hoped that he was wrong.

* * *

**Konoha - Shikamaru's Home**

**6:11 AM**

* * *

Shikamaru was awoken by the irritating sound of his cellphone going off.

He cracked one eye open just in time to see Kiba's distorted name flashing on the cracked screen of his newly damaged Iphone. Letting out an annoyed moan, he shifted over to the other side and decided to ignore the call, closing his eyes to let the sleep reclaim his tired body once again. He was still exhausted after the events from last night, and judging by how it was still wasn't fully light outside, it was far too early to be taking phone calls, even if it was from one of his only friends.

The third time his phone started to ring, Shikamaru decided to answer just to give his so-called friend a piece of his mind.

"Listen Kiba, I don't know what you're calling about, but -"

"_SHIKAMARU!" _

The said boy jolted up in surprise at the sudden shout that came from the other line, his eyes snapping open as all of his exhaustion disappeared within a second. He stared at his phone's screen for a moment, almost as if to make sure that he was talking to the right person.

"Kiba?"

For a couple of seconds, he could only hear the sound of someone heavily breathing and what sounded like a door being frantically slammed shut.

"_Shikamaru, Shikamaru - hey man, are you there?"_

Kiba's voice was panicked, a tone of voice that Shikamaru had never heard his friend use before. His words were spoken quietly, strained as if he was trying to hide from something that was close by.

"_Listen I don't have much time - remember how I told you about how my sister tried to help out with the murderer yesterday?"_

Shikamaru remembered the boy telling him something about being present for the murder, but did not remember him mentioning his sister at all. This much was to be expected though, considering the fact that Shikamaru rarely actually listened to Kiba when he talked. Fortunately, the boy started to talk again before Shikamaru could answer.

"_She was bitten, the sick bastard b-bit her yesterday - and we took her to the hospital and they s-said she was going to be fine, but she s-started acting all weird last night, and I woke up this morning and she wasn't anywhere to be found so I entered mom's room to ask where she w-was and -"_

"Calm down Kiba. Take a deep breath and just calm down," Shikamaru interrupted his friend, already feeling his own stomach churning. He didn't have to listen to the rest of Kiba's sentence to get an idea of what had happened to Kiba's mother and who had been the one to do it. Despite his lack of social skills, Shikamaru was an intelligent boy, and once the dots were connected, it was easy to see the entire pattern. "Listen to me: you have to get out of your house _right now_. I'm not sure of what's going on, but I have an idea, and it's not looking pretty. Make sure you don't come into contact with either your mother or your sister, no matter what you do. If you meet anyone outside who's acting strange, avoid them at all costs. I'll meet you downtown at the arcade center in fifteen minutes - if it's inaccessible, wait for me on the school roof and make sure to close all the doors behind you. Whatever you do, _don't get bitten." _

Shikamaru tensely waited for Kiba to answer, while hurriedly tugging on a random hoodie as fast as he could.

His blood turned cold as he heard Kiba scream, and then the line went dead.

* * *

**Konoha Institutional Reformatory - Building B **

**8:32 AM**

* * *

"No use, the TV still ain't working."

"Huh, that's strange. Didn't we get it fixed just last week?"

Sakura momentarily looked up to stare at the small, cheap TV hanging off one of the walls of the cafeteria. It apparently hadn't been working all morning - all she could see was static, no matter what channel they changed it to. Sighing, she looked down at her plate, discovering that her appetite was still not back after an entire day. The only connection she had to the outside world was broken, and she found the darkness swallowing her in even further as she dejectedly stared at her surroundings, wondering when she would ever start to get used to this place.

"You should eat up," Naruto half-scolded her, after seeing her full tray. "You're going to need lots of food in order to stay healthy - plus, you're so skinny already, you need to put some more meat on those bones."

"You're like a mother, Naruto," Sakura said with a shaky laugh, but followed his advice and took a bite of her tasteless food. Sasuke and Sai had left to do whatever they usually did during their recreational time - Naruto loyally stuck to his promise and stayed by her side at all times, in case anyone decided to harass her.

"I know that the other two might might seem a little hard to get along with, but I promise they're both good guys," Naruto sincerely told her, noticing her discomfort. "Especially Sasuke. I know it might seem pretty ridiculous since we're all criminals, but you can trust us, y'know? We're not the bloodthirsty psychos everyone else makes us up to be."

Sakura immediately felt guilty, realizing that Naruto had heard at least part of the conversation between Sasuke and herself last night.

"I didn't mean it that way," she quickly responded, but abruptly closed her mouth before she could say anything else. She had to stop making excuses for herself - she had definitely spoken those words and she had no other choice but to accept the responsibility. "I just need a little time," she finally said, looking at him straight in the eyes. "I honestly don't think you guys are bad, but I just need some time to adjust to this entire situation. I never thought this would happen... I just -"

Their conversation was rudely interrupted by several shouts that were coming from outside, filtering into the unusually quiet cafeteria. It took Sakura a moment to realize that a large number of inmates were not present, and the boy next to her seemed to notice the same exact thing as his eyes automatically swept over their surroundings. Naruto and Sakura both exchanged nervous glances before wordlessly getting up and rushing out, ignoring the guard who tried to stop them for not putting their trays away.

When they reached the outdoor grounds, they saw Sasuke and Sai both surrounded by the same people that had threatened to beat them up the day before. The two boys, however, looked as calm as they always did, as they were verbally harassed by the large number of men.

"Hey, what the hell is going on here?" Naruto loudly shouted, almost immediately drawing their attention to himself. Zaku's smirking face among them lit up with malicious delight as he spotted the blond haired boy.

"Just the two people we were waiting for," Zaku snarled menacingly, as they rapidly approached the group. Naruto immediately took his place in between Sasuke and Sai as he gently pushed the pinkette behind them. Sakura's eyes momentarily met with Sasuke's, and while she immediately recalled their conversation from the night before, he was absolutely unreadable.

"I thought I told you to stay away," Naruto answered, a frown slowly adorning his usually cheerful features. "I usually don't like fighting, but I'm not going to go easy on you a second time, you know?"

Zaku sneered, as if the very thought thoroughly amused him. "I'd like to see you try, brat," he spat out, his features contorting into an ugly grin.

"Is that a challenge?" Naruto's expression abruptly changed once again, as his friendly features were replaced by a grin so malicious it made Zaku's expression look like a gentle smile in comparison. She momentarily wondered if no one else found it strange that Naruto seemed to constantly switch back and forth between two heavily contrasting personas, but then she remembered that such a thing wouldn't seem odd in a prison that was built to contain mentally unstable criminals.

Before their fight could actually start, there was a scream and Sakura whirled around just in time to see an enormous truck driving right towards her. Her eyes widened and her legs trembled as she felt her entire body freeze up, her limbs refusing to cooperate as her mind screamed at her to move. There was no way she was going to avoid such a fast moving vehicle in time - she didn't even have the time to let out a scream before she felt the air in her lungs being knocked out.

She let out a loud gasp as she felt her body slam to the dirt ground, just in time as the truck went whizzing past her. She had landed in an uncomfortable position and her right arm felt funny, but more importantly she was still alive and in one piece.

"This is the only time I'm ever going to help you," Sasuke muttered, his face hovering directly over her own. She blinked, not noticing their extremely close proximity until he had pushed himself back up. It took her another second to realize that Uchiha Sasuke had just saved her life - she breathlessly looked up to stare at him as he turned his irritated gaze towards the truck that had just crashed into the side of one of three buildings.

"Isn't it too early to be drunk driving?" Naruto commented, the dangerous look in his eyes gone once again as he stared at the mess in disbelief. "Who the hell let him in through the gates?" No one answered him; everyone's attention was glued on the smoking vehicle that was partially destroyed.

"He's still alive!" Sakura gasped in surprise, struggling onto her feet as the door swung open. A bloody man stumbled out, letting out several incomprehensible groans as he dragged his body on the ground, his movements slow and deranged. "We need to help him," she quickly said, her instincts immediately taking over as she took a step forwards.

"What the hell is going on over here!" Several guards had joined them after hearing the commotion outside.

"He's injured!" Sakura frantically called out, whirling around to face them. "The truck - it just went crashing into the wall, but the driver survived! You have to do something to help him -" She was abruptly cut off when a baton came flying down at her petite body.

"Quiet!" the guard roared, as she fell to the ground again, letting out a cry of pain. "I bet you nutjobs did something to make him crash, didn't you? You better be ready to face the consequences!"

Sakura stared up in terror as he raised his baton once again. Before it could strike her a second time, Naruto was immediately by her side, the threatening weapon firmly caught in his hand. "We didn't do anything," he stated, his eyes narrowing. "The guy was clearly drunk or something. If you don't believe us, you can check the security cameras."

The guard pulled his baton away with a "tch", slightly stumbling when Naruto abruptly let go. "Whatever," the man muttered, rapidly regaining his composure. "I'm going to take a look!" he hastily called out to his co-workers, before carefully walking over to the groaning man who was slowly making his way towards them.

"Are you alright?" Naruto whispered, but Sakura was too busy staring at the wounded man on the ground to answer. She was quickly assessing his wounds, but something was clearly out of place. It was true that he was bloody and disfigured, but the blood on his body was not fresh. It looked at least a couple of hours old, and his wounds failed to correspond with any possible injuries that he might have obtained in the crash; parts of his skin almost looked like they were rotting off, and his eyes were terribly bloodshot, a stream of blood trickling down his right eye.

"No," she gasped, her eyes widening. She didn't know what it was, but there was something horribly wrong with this man. "That person... he's not normal."

Naruto gave her a confused look, but Sasuke had caught wind of her words and was immediately by their side, pulling them roughly backwards just in time as the injured man snatched the guard by the arm. The blond haired boy's eyes widened as the guard let out an agonizing scream.

Everyone simply stood still as the man literally devoured the other helpless guard. His arms forcefully tore into the poor man's stomach, pulling out his organs as shoving them into his mouth. After a couple of seconds, one of the guards finally mustered up the courage to shakily raise his handgun and shoot the demon right in the chest. Sakura felt Naruto's tension leave his body and several of the inmates looked slightly reassured as the bullet embedded itself in he dead center of the insane man's chest.

Their peace was short lived, however, when the man simply got back up and started to crawl his way towards the man who had shot the gun.

"He's... he's still moving!" one of the inmates cried in terror. "How is he still alive?!"

There were a million thoughts running through Sakura's head as she stared at the scene unfold right before her very eyes. "That man isn't normal," she whispered again, earning a dry look from Sasuke.

"That much is obvious," he retorted.

"No." She shook her head. "There's something wrong with his body. Those injuries aren't from the crash - his skin is rotting off, something that shouldn't be possible unless the person is deceased as his organisms stop functioning. That level of accelerated decomposition is only seen on corpses. There shouldn't be any injury in the world that can reduce the body into such a state."

"How do you know so much about this stuff?" Naruto asked incredulously, his eyes wide.

Sakura only realized what she had said after hearing Naruto's comment. "I was studying to go to a medical school before coming here," she said, frowning. "But that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that there's something strange with that man, and I don't like the way that looks. We shouldn't go near him for now."

Everyone stared in horror as there was another groan, coming from the fallen guard who had been definitely dead up until a minute ago. He slowly got to his feet, guts spilling out of his crudely opened stomach as he took a clumsy step towards them.

"He's still alive!" one of the other guards gasped, steeping forwards. Before anyone else could stop him by pointing out the obvious, he had already rushed to his fallen comrade's side, trying to help him walk. "Are you okay man? We need to get you to a hospital, you probably shouldn't move for now -" He was stopped in the middle of his sentence when the other injured man viciously sunk his teeth into his friend's arm.

"How..." Sakura whispered to herself, feeling her body be gripped by a completely different type of fear than she had experienced yesterday. "There's no way he can still be alive - but why is he able to still move?"

Naruto jumped back onto his feet, as if to head towards the two injured guards, but Sakura immediately grabbed his wrist, effectively stopping him. "We need to get inside, _now._" Her voice was stable and firm for the first time since she had been admitted into the prison. The look in her eyes was so strong and intense that Naruto immediately stepped backwards, automatically listening to her orders.

The Cell 7 members quickly slipped away as the grounds rapidly turned into chaos. The inmates were diving towards the injured guards to take their weapons, and the guards were trying to defend themselves while saving their own comrades at the same time. It wasn't difficult for the four of them to escape in the middle of all the disruption - before they knew it, they were standing inside the cafeteria, rushing towards the windows.

"What the hell is going on out there?" one of the inmates cried, as soon as they came bursting through the doors. Ignoring them, Sakura strained her neck to look out the window, her eyes carefully observing the scene outside. It was hard to distinguish what was going on among all the chaos, but it was obvious that there were at least a few more people acting strangely, just like the initial perpetrator had.

"It's an infection," she breathed, her heart sinking as the truth finally struck her.

"An infection?" Naruto echoed.

"It's bringing the dead back to life," she whispered in horror, and this time, the darkness around her swallowed her whole.

* * *

**Konoha Reformatory Institute - Remaining Survivors: 92 Inmates, 22 Guards **

* * *

_A/N: I'm back! The last time I actually posted a fic on this website was 2007, can you believe it? I was busy for awhile and even though I had a couple of random plot bunnies running around my head, I could never find the time to do it. But I'm finally here! And will definitely be posting much more. _

_My writing style has probably changed a lot since the last time, and hopefully it changed for the better. I'm trying out a genre of horror that I've never written before, so hopefully it'll turn out okay! This story definitely has elements of romance in it too, so don't fear, SasuSaku fans! _

_I'm trying to give each character a unique kind of personality, and even though it doesn't show much in the first chapter, I hope to expand on it further. I gave Kakashi a Sherlock Holmes type of persona, an investigator who's brilliant yet eccentric at the same time, with nothing that fazes him. Shikamaru is supposed to be the intelligent boy who mostly keeps to himself, and while he's usually level-headed, he can't help but feel slightly panicked in such a situation. _

_'Cell' (Team) 7 members will be explained in further chapters. It's a secret for now! And I promise Sakura will have lots of character development. _

_I know characters may seem a little OOC sometimes, but I tried imagine how they would change when faced with a situation that was truly startling. I hope that shows at least a little bit in my writing. _

_Anyways, I think the A/N has dragged on for long enough! I hope you enjoy the story, and remember to review and let me know what you liked and what you didn't like! I haven't finished on deciding the plot so let me know if there are any characters you'd like to see, you never know I might surprise you! Also, if you have any questions, always feel free to PM me. I promise I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can! _


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